These new beginnings show how far Pride Toronto has evolved from its origins, where marching meant taking to the streets to protest arrests made in bathhouse raids. Now an annual celebration, these 25 photos show how Toronto's queer communities have transformed Pride from then to now.

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Toronto Pride From The Last 45 Years

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Hanlan's Point: Where It All Started (1971)
Toronto Pride can trace its origins to a picnic. Hanlan's Point, a beach in the Toronto Islands, was the site for the first public celebration for gay Torontonians. Organized by Toronto Gay Action Now and the Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT), 300 people gathered for what became an annual tradition of Pride parties on the Toronto Islands.

First Pride Week (1972)
Toronto Gay Action organized the first Pride Week in 1972.
In protest of police harassment and a lack of legislature protecting the rights of sexual identity, CHAT (University of Toronto’s Community Homophile Association of Toronto) hosted Gay Pride Week events in 1974, while the Gay Alliance Towards Equality (GATE) ran the Gay Pride March. Both went unrecognized by the City of Toronto.

A "Kiss-In" At Yonge And Dundas (1976)
After two gay activists were arrested and found guilty on an indecency charge for kissing on the street (doing so for a photo to go with an article on homophobia), 20 people protested the ruling by taking to downtown streets and making out. No arrests were made.

Gay Asians Toronto (1979)

Bathhouse Raids (1981)
On February 5 1981, Toronto Police raided four bathhouses and arrested more than 260 gay men as part of Operation Soap, leading to mass outrage and kicking off several gay rights rallies. These unwarranted searches were the tipping point for a growing sense of persecution felt by Toronto's gay community.
Operation Soap is the second largest mass arrest in Canada. In their arrests, police caused more than $35,000 dollars in damage (totalling around $100,000 if adjusted for modern value).

Gay Liberation Movement (1980's)
Thousands of protesters poured into the streets following Operation Soap, with renowned locals such as author Margaret Atwood condemning the Toronto Police's actions.
The gay liberation movement gained traction throughout the '80s, leading activists to advocate for structural change to homophobic and HIV-positive persecution, as well as for AIDS awareness.

Shifting Locations (1986)
Toronto's gay community and Pride itself started to shift from frequenting Yonge St. bars, which were straight-owned, to convening in what is now the Church-Wellesley Village. Sexual orientation was included in the Ontario Human Rights Code in 1986.

Pride's First Grand Marshals Include NDP MP (1988)
Pride began a tradition of grand marshals leading the Gay Pride Day Parade in 1988. At the time, the parade was not recognized by the City of Toronto and was not allowed to go past certain streets.
Karen Andrews and NDP MP Svend Robinson were Toronto Pride's first marshals. Robinson, who had came out as gay two months before Pride, was the first Canadian politician to be openly gay while in office.

AIDS Memorial (1989)
As parade-goers celebrated Lesbian and Gay Day Pride Day in 1989, a temporary memorial was set up for the first time in Cawthra Park. It listed more than 200 names who lost their lives to AIDS. Today, the Toronto AIDS memorial is a permanent tribute in Cawthra Square and lists more than 2,700 names.

First Official Pride (1991)
1991 marks the first year the City of Toronto would officially proclaim Pride Day.

Pre-Millennial Celebrations (1999)
As its grown, roughly half a million people have been flocking to Toronto Pride each year.

Israeli Apartheid Controversy (2010)
Toronto Pride drew controversy when grassroots Toronto-based group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QAIA) was banned from the parade in 2010. The group, which had previously marched in Pride, had drawn concerns that the City of Toronto would revoke funding if they joined the parade. Ultimately, the ban was revoked and QAIA marched. The group dissolved in 2015.

Where's Ford? (2011)
Former mayor, the late Rob Ford, raised eyebrows for snubbing Pride while he was in office, leading to accusations that Ford did not support queer and trans issues. It didn't help that he had been the only councilor to vote against a proposed shelter for LGBT homeless youth.

2011

2012

Liberals At Pride (2013)
Prime Minister (then leader of the Liberal Party) Justin Trudeau walks with Ontario's premier Kathleen Wynne at Toronto Pride 2013. Wynne was elected as the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in 2013, becoming the province's first female premier and the first openly gay premier in Canada.

Dyke March (2013)

Indigenous At Pride (2013)
Michael Healy, who is a Blood Nation Blackfoot from Alberta, walks in Toronto Pride with other First Nations marchers.

Word Pride (2014)
World Pride was Pride Toronto's biggest endeavour, with more programming and events running than before. The 2014 Pride March, Dyke March, and Trans March were the longest lasting Pride parades in Canadian history, with the general Pride March lasting over five hours.
World Pride is held every five years, in a different city around the world. The next one will be in Madrid in 2017.

World Pride (2014)

2015

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau At Pride (2015)
Trudeau has been a frequent participant of Toronto Pride and Vancouver Pride in previous years. His 2016 Pride appearance will mark the first time a Prime Minister has marched in the Toronto Pride Parade.